Boston and brides ...

Take note of the woman in red confidently
leading this Boston bridal procession ...


Last weekend, my husband and I took the boys to Boston for the day. We started with a ride on Codzilla (so much fun!), we visited the big hammock on the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway (so much to enjoy), we saw some artwork by Sidewalk Sam
(I actually went to college with “Sam’s” son, Rob), we saw a guy in a kilt (and not much else!) ride a unicycle and juggle three baby dolls in the center of Faneuil Hall Marketplace (I doubted him but am now a complete believer) and we watched a random bridal procession head down the city street. Of course I had my camera with me (I never leave home without it)
so I quickly snapped the photo above.

About a half an hour later, as we were returning from our walk on the greenway, we saw the same bridal party posing for pictures in a dark brick alley, up against a chain link fence. What a cool contrast of a private and formal event with the public grit of the city. I thought to myself, “That is totally something my photographer friend, Liz, would do!” As I moved in closer to get a better look I realized it WAS Liz! How often do you run into a neighbor photographing a wedding when you randomly head to Boston with all of your children for the first time??? I knew she and I were meant to be friends (and, yes, my husband and I should get out more often with the kiddos!)

When Liz posts pictures from what looked like a very energetic group of wedding attendants, I will get you the link. Do stop by her blog if you are looking for a wedding photographer for your special event ...
along with getting some really cool shots, Liz has a unique ability to capture an emotional moment
in a way that is profoundly beautiful.



A save-the-date postcard announcing the 2nd annual
Fenway Park Bridal Festival


Next weekend in Boston on Sunday, September 12th from 10am to 4pm there will be a blow-out bridal event held at Fenway Park. What a great way to get a guy (or any Red Sox fan) excited about making those final big-day decisions! There will be all kinds of wedding vendors participating along with a bridal fashion show from a new friend of mine, Harper Della-Piana of Seams Couture in Wenham (I met her and her talented mother at the North Shore Design Show last May). Four lucky couples will even win a Fenway Park wedding ceremony (click here for details!) Tickets are only $15 per person. Save $5
per ticket if you buy them in advance online.




My nephew Roger as ring bearer.
Photograph by Loren Sklar

Our niece and flower girl, Taryn.
Photograph by Loren Sklar

My nephew (who was the ring bearer at our wedding) just had his senior prom at Fenway Park last spring. And now my niece (who was one of our two adorable flower girls) will be walking the runway at the Fenway event for Seams Couture. Did I mention this bridal extravaganza is being run by Rafanelli Events
who you may recall just threw a little party for
Chelsea Clinton?? And who would have guessed that the tiniest members of my bridal entourage would,
ten years later, both be invited to Fenway
Park for black-tie events!

{Photo borrowed from Rain’s blog}

Here is Taryn last spring modeling a classical-music-inspired gown designed by Rain Delisle, the winner of Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Project Tchaikovsky. The winning pair are shown here with Jared Bowen, the arts reporter for WGBH who emceed the event.
I love watching shows like Project Runway,
but I love it even more when I know the life story
of the model wearing the works of art!
Now that is cool : )

If you make it to the bridal event at Fenway, be sure to tell Harper I sent you! I will be posting more photos from her new Wrapture Collection after the show.
For now, enjoy these random snapshots from
our “family fun day” in Boston ...

How a kitchen changed my life

The cooks kitchen (or butler’s pantry)
at Glen Magna in Danvers

It is Friday. I had a couple of serious posts that I have been working on including an interior tour of the historical beauty of Glen Magna, questions and answers from the Designer Tea that I attended there on Wednesday, Floor Cloth Painting 101 ... instead, I am going to tell you a fun story (with a happy ending of course!) I will get to the more serious posts
after the weekend (it is summer after all!)

WatchingWeddings by designvignettes

In my mid-twenties I worked full-time in the advertising world, but on the weekends I dressed in black and white and got to watch a lot of weddings. Isn’t that just what every single girl wants to do???
My cousin, Carol, hooked me up with my first job at Harvest Catering (“All you have to do is hand out hors d’oeuvres on silver platters ... plus some really cute guys work with us”) and I fell in love ... with the fancy parties, well dressed guests, fabulous food and all the rest of the finery. Not to mention, this was a cool group of people to work with ... they knew how to host an elegant bash – with much professional polish – yet the crew after parties were serious fun!




Most of our catering events took place at Glen Magna. I was charmed by its gracious history. Going back and forth to the kitchen to fill my silver platter turned out to be more fun than I thought. When my tray was piled high with shrimp cocktail, I quickly became “most popular hors d’eouvre girl” and guests would pull me aside and make me promise to visit them first with each new trayful. Some of our parties were served buffet-style in the dining room. Guests would ooh and ahh over both the food and the wallpaper.

Halloween 1992 ... Harvest held a private party at Glen Magna as a thank you to the staff after putting in many long hours during the busy wedding season.


In attendance: My roommate at the time,
who we will call Ginger, with her date,
who we will call The Professor.

“The Blues Brothers” were our disc jockeys. There were no ipods or playlists at this dance party! You had to ask for a song and then they had to physically find it in their large collection of vinyl. My date was the taller “brother” on the right. This was probably our third night out. I met him after one very special catering-related event in mid-October. It was the night of my cousin Carol’s wedding, I was a guest, Harvest did the food, he was invited to the after-party by his sister, Deb, who also worked for Harvest and was a good friend of my cousin. (This is where the story gets long, but stay with me!) We didn’t really speak at the party, but when he saw me leave with a tray of goodies (since I was going home alone I figured the cookies would cheer me up) he knew then that we would get along (he had a sweet tooth). He asked his sister about me and a first date was set up. We went to dinner in Cambridge (a double date with my roommate and his) then we all went to a local nightclub to see the band Devonsquare (I had won tickets on the radio). We held hands that night. I thought, “This could be the one.”

After the Halloween party ended at Glen Magna, most of us headed over to dance to more tunes spun at our DJ’s home. This is so embarrassing, but I was dressed as Marianne from Gilligan’s Island! My roomate picked the better costume for sure. But I know that I picked the better date. I soon moved in. Maybe his unpainted walls and lack of real window treatments were part of his allure? The rest, as they say, is history : )